Humanity
by Nezkov Sou
Summary: AU. HiruSena? OneShot. Deaths. ...But there was one particular individual, keeping silent, the fact that he had none of those in mind. And he was the only one who, till the end, had a rational thinking and a feeling heart...


Humanity

Eyeshield 21 © Inagaki Riichiro and Murata Yusuke

Fanfiction plot © Nezkov Sou

Note: The subject of this fic is quite heavy, 'cause I'm in the mood for it.

* * *

In a future world where barely anything was coloured more than shades of grey, white and black and where the weather was never predictable, be it the rain, the cold or the drought, the term skyscraper had long been abandoned, replaced by the common use of building or department. The minimum height of architectures had been increased to ten floors and a one-storey house was 'extinct'. Concrete and bricks were rarely used, exceptional for the less fortunate people. And these people had their lives in the brinks of death. They could die anytime, like a ticking time-bomb. The more fortunate ones lived in enclosed titanium alloy walls and having extra powerful defenses on all sides. Although their lives were secure, there was no relaxation or peace. Correct that. Peace was near to nonexistence.

The country had cut off connection with the rest of the world and the city was in a downfall in every aspects; economy, social, moral, life expectancy, standard of living. The previous government was in a state of disorganization due to the sudden unexpected incident which collapsed the flourishing city. By then various political parties with different ideas and views had been formed and months after the beginning of the apocalypse, the government was taken over by a coup. The rising party was one who believed that the only way to end the disaster was to destroy it, to kill the source, and rebuild the city: Ascendance of the Fiend, for short, the AF.

Within days, the AF was known by the population, taken things into their hands in their own ways and passed down reformations. A sort of army was organized which was divided into subgroups. These were the ones responsible for dealing with the catastrophe, the ones who work towards peace, the ones who did the killing, the ones who dirtied their hands with death. Each and every of them had in their mind, the future of the country, the end of the apocalypse, sacrificing themselves for their people, killing for the sake of peace. But there was one particular individual, keeping silent, the fact that he had none of those in mind. And he was the only one who, till the end, had a rational thinking and a feeling heart.

His name was Hiruma Youichi, one of the specialized killers who frequently stayed out in the wilderness of the city and shed blood. Not the blood of his body, but those grotesque creatures, the Claivers. These monsters appeared out of the blue and destroyed the city, taking millions of innocent lives. That was the beginning of everything and the change for Hiruma.

* * *

He stood alone among the busy humans watching the dark with a bored expression. Behind him, intense bright light was flashed at the scene where a bloody mess splattered the wall of a construction site. Blurred commands and hurried footsteps danced in the background but all those were irrelevant to him. The emerald eyes were locked at where two expect scientists were studying a mashed up body. Another dead victim. By days, the Claivers had seemed to increase in numbers greatly and thus the number of corpses doubled or tripled.

The corpse was carefully removed and taken back to the laboratory to carry out autopsy. In a few quick hours, the scene was cleared off any humans except for the blond man. The efficiency of the army and the experts had been proved high. Hiruma stepped out of the building and gazed up at the moon which faintly appeared red. This was a habit of his; to stay back at a murder scene and linger around the scent of death. However, he did not do this out of no reason. He had his own. And that was to study the pattern of the murder, how the mess was spread out and at times he could even track down the certain monster and finish it off. This time, the area dirtied was rather wide with the completely shredded guts smearing the ceiling, floor and every side of the walls. This monster was of an enormous size.

With Hiruma's ability, it was completely impossible to face it directly. That was why he was entitled the Stealth Sniper; armed with rifles and specialize in a One Hit K.O. head shot from the furthest distance recorded. Tactics and strategies brought him the wins plus his accurate calculations, prediction and risk taking. Unlike the other specialized killers, Hiruma was the only one bearing the rifle.

From what he had found, the creature would not be very far from the scene and with certain movement he might be able to catch up. Hiruma glanced away from the moon and stepped towards the site wanting to take a final look. Out of habit, his strides were silent, not making even the slightest noise. Nearing the entrance, a soft snuffling sound caught his sharp sensitive ears and he halted, concentrating on his senses.

Something was there. Hiruma pressed his body against the wall and armed his loaded rifle. He inched forward and reaching the corner, he aimed the rifle and cautiously scanned the place. It only took a second for him to register the creature sniffing around the bloody mess. Rather small in size, almost like that size of a human, and had dark red spikes protruding along the spine and forming a tail at the end. On first glance, it reminded Hiruma of a large porcupine, but such thing did not exist. A Claiver no doubt, and Hiruma pointed his cross-aim at the head of the creature.

Although in the dark, he could make out a different colour. Dark brown instead of red. A quick study and he noticed that the spikes began from the back of the creature's neck. Somehow it was recognizing, appearing like another living being. Just then the creature looked up, straight at the man and Hiruma felt a sharp chill. The eyes were a bloody red like the full moon outside but that was not what caught Hiruma's attention. The face of the creature was a hell lot similar to a human's and it made the rifle in Hiruma's arm wavered down. For a long moment, the two of them stared at each other in absolute stillness.

The red eyes flickered as if in realization and the creature brought a paw forward in caution and began to make small slow steps towards the blonde. Hiruma watched the creature through narrowed eyes and brought up the rifle, taking precise aim again. The creature jerked to a stop and gazed up at Hiruma. He could not believe it himself but for a split second he thought that an emotion flowed into those red orbs. But what happened the next moment took him by complete surprise.

"…e…ro…a…" it was barely audible, but in a vacant place, the smallest noise was as clear as the long gone azure sky, "a…ro…e…shi…" the creature was without a doubt, speaking.

Hiruma's eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung slightly open. Since the appearance of the Claivers, he never thought that one of them could actually speak and not roar or make any other gruesome noises. And to be honest, he had never seen any of those creatures look as humanly as this particular one in front of him. Hiruma could only gape in astonishment. Even though he had gone through three years of training in the army, he could not help it but be stunned in such a moment. During those early years, he had been nicknamed as the Devil without feelings, and yet, here he was feeling surprised for the first time. And there was a spark of a different emotion inside him which was reflected in those scarlet eyes. An exact same emotion but Hiruma could not make out what it exactly was.

The creature made another step forward and gazed straight into the emerald shards. "a…ro…e…shi…"

Was it trying to convey something to Hiruma? Or was it a trap so that it could take the upper hand? Without hesitation, Hiruma fired a single shot at the ground and the creature leapt back, skidding to a halt; the scarlet eyes always on the emerald ones.

"Back off monster. Another step and I'll shoot your fucking brains out, if you have any." Hiruma spat at the words. He must be insane to be talking to a Claiver but in the back of his mind he wanted to test whether this Claiver really could understand his language.

The Claiver stared at Hiruma in silence and for an instant moment, a sad blue emotion filled those red orbs and its head lowered in what might be dismay. Everything was confusing and Hiruma could not find the right reason. He brought his aim up to the creature. After all, it was still a Claiver. And these monsters should be exterminated.

A gruesome shrill pierced through the air and from Hiruma's right side, a shadow pounced, with a speed so fast that he barely register the fact. Hiruma was neither born with a strong body nor quick reflex actions. Despite his sharp thinking, his reaction could not catch up and he barely pulled his rifle towards the shadow when he was thrown to the ground; his rifle slipping out of his arm and clattered onto the ground. A quick glance and Hiruma knew what that shadow was. Another Claiver, but this time, a particularly ugly one which had drool dripping from its large jaw that was stained with red blood.

Hiruma tried to grab his rifle and when a sharp pain shot through him, he realized that his arm was wounded. Damn. Was this the end of him? He could not die here, not now. He still had something to do. He still had to keep the promise he had made to himself. And he still needed to find that person.

Amongst his blurred thoughts, Hiruma heard a loud roar and the Claiver above him was tackled by the porcupine-like one. With quick motion, Hiruma sat up and grabbed his rifle, not believing what had happened. The humanly Claiver had knocked the ugly beast away.

The smaller creature growled low in the throat, facing the foe. Its dark red spikes stood upwards like how a cat would when it hiss, and its dark brown hair which waved out resembled the mane of a powerful lion. It held its ground in front of Hiruma as if it was protecting the man, ready to attack the other monster.

Hiruma leapt back to his feet and aimed his rifle at the larger monster, his grip on the weapon tightened with each pulse until his fingers turned paler than how it already was. He was not sure why he was aiming at the particularly ugly one but realized that it was not possible for him to kill two Claivers in one go. Yet, what was most unsure was the fact that he, a human, was being protected by the smaller Claiver. No matter how much the creature resembled a human, it was still a beast meant to be killed.

The larger monster gurgled incoherent unpleasant noises and jumped straight at the enemy of same species in front of it. Hiruma caught this action but the moment when he wanted to pull the trigger, a sharp pain stung his arm and the bullet strayed to the left shoulder of the monster which screeched at the man. Within split seconds of realization, Hiruma moved his body to the right but the pain that was clawing at him reduced his mobility greatly. The image in front of him was clear: the hideous monster towards him. Would this be the end? Hiruma thought. However, at the back of his mind, he heard a voice so faint he could not recognize whose.

_I'm not gonna die yet. I've got to find him. He's still alive. That's why I can't die here. Not yet._

It was his own voice. His voice from the past, when the country was normal and peaceful and the monsters never existed. It was the time when he felt most alive, the time when he met that person. The person who made him feel glad to be alive. But now that person was nowhere to be seen. Ever since the first chaos due to the beasts, he had lost all touch with that person. Millions of people died; their body too crushed up to be identified. What if that person was one of the corpses? No. Hiruma did not believe that.

_He has to be alive. He's waiting for me. He is safe. And I am going to get him back._

A roar pierced through the still air and the smaller Claiver pounced at its enemy; curled up into a ball of spikes. The jagged dark red spears stabbed into the grey body from where a rush of mauve blood splashed out, staining both creatures which crashed landed onto the dirty ground. The dying monster made a gurgled wretch through its shaking jaws before its body fell limp.

Hiruma's eyes went wide in bewilderment, staring at the ball of red spikes which was still stabbed into the corpse. After a few moments of complete silence, the Claiver uncurled itself and dragged its body away from the dead beast. It stepped back few feet away and sat on its haunches; the tail of spikes thumped softly onto the ground. The scarlet eyes traveled from the body to the man and locked with the shocked emerald slits.

"...a…" a quiet whimper, "…ya…o…si…"

Hiruma kept his eyes on the creature's. What was it trying to say? Then realization hit him hard and Hiruma steadied his rifle again, aiming at the head of the living beast. "I don't give a fuck what you're trying to say," Hiruma snarled, "and I don't give a fuck if you saved me. You're a Claiver, and I'm gonna exterminate you."

The creature flinched at the words spat on it and hesitantly, it moved a step back. A soft whimper was sounded again and the crimson orbs stared into the emerald ones, a tinge of emotion flowing inside.

"Ya…o…si!" the voice raised slightly, as if in plea.

Hiruma pulled the trigger without a second thought but the shot missed the head by an inch. Damn, his arm hurt like hell.

Even when the lead bullet soared pass its head the creature did not flinch this time. It merely stared at the man now with a blank expression. Tension sunk into the air and for unknown reasons, Hiruma did not fire another shot and the creature did not move. The two of them were rooted to their place as if time had stopped.

It felt like the longest moment ever in Hiruma's life before the Claiver twitched and turned on its heel, trudging away silently. The blonde could feel a nerve snapped in his mind and he fired a clear shot at one of the beast's limbs.

"You fucking monster!" Hiruma yelled; his voice at the same sound level as the surprised yelp of the creature.

The Clavier crumpled onto the floor in a heap, whimpering at being wounded. Despite that, it did not give another glimpse at its attacker. It curled up in a defensive form although all the spikes were laid back, making soft cries of pain.

A sensible fact came upon Hiruma and he nearly shot himself for being an idiot. Why in the world was he speaking to a monster? And why did not he make a headshot? He should have killed the Clavier with one clear bullet, yet he did not. What was it inside him that was contradicting with his logic? An injured arm would not have caused such changes in his mind. Nor would a mere Clavier.

"Ya…" the creature began again; this time, its voice stronger than before despite being quite strangled, "Yao. Chi."

Hiruma froze in place, his mind blanking out when his ears caught those firm words.

"Hi. Ro. A." the beast paused, panting due to its wound. Finally, it brought its crimson gaze up at the man who had shot it. "Hi. Ro. A. Yao. Chi."

The green emerald eyes widened in shock, locking gazes with the scarlet orbs. It was not exactly right, but it sounded similar. The broken words spoken by the beast sounded similar to Hiruma's name. Hiruma Youichi. How did this monster knew his name? Unconsciously, he gritted his teeth in incredulity; not wanting to believe what he heard.

The small Clavier staggered to its feet and dragged itself towards the man in a tediously slow speed, its wound bleeding heavily leaving a trail of dark magenta blood behind. As it stumbled at the feet of the stupefied man, it gazed up; the crimson eyes drawing all of the man's attention.

Hiruma stared deep into that sea of red and in the darkness within it he could feel a small spark of light. Swallowing slowly, Hiruma parted his lips to let a choked question out in a soft voice that he had never used for years.

"What… are you?"

For a split moment, Hiruma swore to himself that he saw the corners of the Clavier's mouth tugged up in an awkward toothy grin before the jaws opened to give out an answer that stunned him further.

"Se. A."

The rifle in Hiruma's hand slipped off and fell onto the floor with a loud clatter which rang throughout the building. The silence of darkness screeched in his ears, blowing all logical thoughts out of his mind.

Sena.

That was what the creature had clearly said. It was no doubt 'Sena' that it said. So that was how it knew Hiruma's name.

But that did not answer any of Hiruma's questions and before he knew it, he was pulled back into the memories of years ago.

It turned out almost ordinary, although different from the society. Both of them, Hiruma and Sena, had gone out together for months and it had been the most special time of Hiruma's life. He had someone by his side; someone who trusted him and someone who he trusted. That was not all of it though. They were more than companions, more than friends. They were lovers. A couple who loved each other deeply and sincerely. It was the first time Hiruma had felt so alive. Sena had been his flame of life, urging him to go on living, not by himself, but together with the younger boy. The image of his lover was still vivid, etched into his mind for a lifetime: dark brown hair which was swept back by the wind, gleaming honey brown eyes that smiled at him, a shy grin lighting up his face.

However, when the apocalypse fell upon the city, the couple was parted in the midst of the explosion and the chaos. They were not side by side to begin with and when Hiruma heard of the destruction at Sena's area, he had not believed it. The blonde had rushed to the scene anyway and what he saw was merely a broken down heap of rubbles, eaten up by the flame that was still roaring in enthusiasm. A few crushed corpses were found but the remaining population had been burnt to crisp of ashes. Yet Hiruma did not believe that Sena died in the flames.

It was the Claviers which caused this in the first place, and seeking revenge, Hiruma joined the Ascendance of the Fiend, wanting to search for his beloved too.

So here he was, finally meeting up with his long lost lover, not in the form that Hiruma knew clearly well, but in the form of the monsters that Hiruma had killed an infinite of. What was this all about? The gears of the impossibility began to click and twist, drawing an outline of what might have happened. Hiruma thought hard, and a vague piece of information came up. The research team had said something about the possibility that Claviers were created with humans as the base. After carrying out millions of autopsies, they had never thought of such a thing, but it seemed possible seeing that the organ structures were somewhat similar to humans', only slightly 'evolved'.

Hiruma's eyes widened again at the realization and he whispered in a coarse voice, "…Sena…?"

Upon hearing the name, the muscles at the corners of the Clavier's mouth tugged up again and a soft growl of satisfaction rumbled from the back of its throat. Then it flopped down, panting after enduring the wound. Yet its awkward grin was still there. Awkward, or shy?

Hiruma dropped to his knees and grabbed the face of the Clavier roughly so that their eyes were locked together again. "Sena? Is it really you?! Don't joke with me alright!" he snarled impatiently. At the back of his mind he told himself that he might be wrong but Hiruma did not care anymore. Any slightest hint of Sena appeared and he would grab onto it like it was his life, even if the hint was a monster.

That was how desperate he was.

The creature gazed into Hiruma's eyes with its now gleaming crimson eyes and he whined softly, "Yao. Chi."

Hiruma could practically feel the smile radiated to him and without much thought of it, he pulled the creature into a clumsy hug, his arms resting on the laid back dark red spikes, and the beast gave a growl-like purr.

"I've been searching far and wide for you. I knew that you weren't dead. I believed that and surely we will meet again. We could never be parted right, Sena?" Hiruma let all his frustration out in one long breath, arms tightening. It had been far too long till he could not exactly point out how many years it had been. His emerald eyes then fell upon the wounded limb of the Clavier and he remembered what he had done. He had shot at Sena without thinking of such a possibility and he had even called, snarled, his lover a monster.

It was ironic. Here was a human who sought revenge upon the monsters for his beloved partner, and here was the same human embracing and speaking to a monster who was his beloved partner.

"I'm sorry…" Hiruma whispered, "I hurt you and called you a monster." For once, Hiruma hated himself. How could he not think of this?

The beast snuggled into the crook of Hiruma's neck and gave the growl-like purr again. All of a sudden, it tensed and its ears perked up. The Clavier pulled itself away from the man and turned its head towards the entrance of the building, sniffing the air lightly.

Bright lights flashed upon the two figures, and voices were heard amid the crowd. Hiruma had instinctively brought up his arm to cover his eyes from the beams. He could vaguely make out the routinely calls of detection of Claviers and the roar of Sena beside him. Then it hit him. Those people were from the AF and though he did not know how they got here, he was sure that Sena was now in danger. A mere Clavier would not be able to escape from this herd of soldiers.

The blonde grabbed his rifle and leapt to his feet, standing in front of Sena. This time he would be the one protecting and he would never let them be apart again.

"Do not shoot!" Hiruma yelled over the crowd, "Don't fucking shoot!"

But his command fell onto deaf ears.

"It's got a hostage. Does it even count as having a hostage?"

"Just surround it damn it. What are you waiting for? Command from HQ?"

"That guy's injured. Guess he got bitten or something."

Although the soldiers sounded dawdling, they had mechanically moved into position as if it had been drilled right into their core. Within seconds, they had taken aim but nobody shoot a bullet yet.

"Get the hell out!" Hiruma barked with rage. He would not let Sena get hurt more than how he had been. And Hiruma had not forgiven himself for it. "Remove your fucking guns! This guy is human!"

A man stepped out of the crowd and was facing Hiruma directly; his pure white lab coat fluttered in the stale breeze and he pushed his frameless glasses up with his forefinger. "Stealth Sniper Hiruma, I presume" he spoke with an air of authority, "I'm sure you know that I am the captain of the research team."

"And what would a fucking geek be doing out at the field?" the blonde snarled with venom, anger rising with every seconds that passed by.

"Regarding your hypothesis of that creature behind you being a human," the captain replied, ignoring the rude comment, "it has been proven as a positive theory."

Hiruma had known that even though he had no prove. Now that it was a perfect theory, it would make things easier.

Yes, easier. But not how Hiruma desired.

"However," the captain continued, "all humans that had turned into Claviers are no more humans. They are monsters and we exist to terminate them. Including that little porcupine behind you."

"Shut the fuck up!" Hiruma pulled up his rifle, aiming straight at the captain and in that instant a few other guns were pointed at the blonde, "He is a human! Not a fucking monster! He isn't like those bastards that kill randomly!"

The captain remained silent and when Hiruma's outburst had ended, he narrowed his black eyes and spoke, "Stealth Sniper, you're the killer in the field. I believe you don't know what we, the so-called geeks, learned through our sheltered-in research. Claviers are not evolved humans as what you may think. They are a monster created by forcefully combining and mutating the genes of a human with that of animals."

Hiruma fell silent, staring into those black eyes in disbelief.

"That guy behind you, I suppose, has his genes mutated with ones of a porcupine and the King of the Jungle, according to its mighty roar."

When not another single word came from Hiruma, the captain raised a hand and ordered, "Terminate."

A series of gunshots brought Hiruma back to where he was and he threw himself onto Sena, desperately wanting to protect his mutated lover. The pain where stray bullets had sliced into him was numbed by his panicking mind and Hiruma knew that he had been screaming for someone to stop and for Sena to run. All in vain, as a wounded roar pierced through the air.

After a few short seconds, the air went still again, the night noiseless and thick. Hiruma cracked open his eyes, having scrunched them up in the midst of panic. What he saw made him unsure of what to feel.

The beast had curled itself around Hiruma, spikes upright trying to protect the man with its small body which was now drenched with its dark magenta blood. Its broken limbs trembled to support its weight but finally gave out and the creature crashed onto the bloodied floor, whimpering in pain.

"Se… na…" the emerald eyes stared in shock, refusing to accept the scene where he was. But the warmth of the blood clearly stated that Hiruma was in reality and that all these were real. "Sena…" the blonde placed a hesitant hand on the side of the creature's face.

The shy grin was back again though this time more forced than before and with what little strength it had left, Sena purred, "A… ove… yu…"

Hiruma felt a hot sting behind his eyes. Here they were, finally meeting up after years, and here they were, finally separating forever. He wanted to protect his lover but he could not even do a single thing. Hiruma leaned in and embraced the dying creature. Planting a soft kiss at the light brown fur which was now stained with blood, he whispered, so soft that only the two of them could hear.

"Love you too, Sena."

Satisfied that he had been able to meet his lover before his last breath, the flame of life in the crimson orbs died down and Sena's body went limp in Hiruma's arms.

The soldiers hustled away, proud for having cleared another monster that would destruct the safety of the humans' lives. Meanwhile, the captain stood at his exact same spot, eyes on the man hugging the fallen beast. Pulling out a semi-automatic from his coat, he stepped forward, his black boots squelching as they made contact with the murky blood. As the muzzle was brought up to rest on the blond mess, the captain stated with authority.

"I shall terminate you along, little traitor of humanity."


End file.
